p a r f u m
by bubblegum shaved ice
Summary: SasuSaku. 7 . arsene lupin dandy . You broke through my flame wards, you killed my sakishima habu and woke our son up.
1. shalimar

**chapter 1: **shalimar

**title: **shalimar

**word count: **808

**disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**note: **All the stories in this anthology will be inspired by perfumes- some will be subtle and some not. There may be some AUs or include mature themes/material (they will have warnings). Shalimar is from the house of Guerlain and it's a _masterpiece_. Shalimar means 'abode to love' in Sanskrit.

'Sasuke-kun! What are you doing!'

Her hushed whispers comes out husky and her face lights up to match her hair as she notices where your hands grasp her. You find yourself raising an eyebrow at her, as obviously, you are picking her off the ladder twice her height at the library. Putting her down, you examine what your teammate is so intrigued by in her reading.

She is sitting with her hair tucked behind her right ear; both elbows lay flat in front of her, completely focused on her book. And your bemused- because- once again, you're reminded of the new Sakura. The one who would rather read a rusty old book smelling of bergamot and vanilla and incense instead of drooling at your face. The one who has gained your trust and friendship (_or maybe more)_.

'Oi, Sakura,'

'Hm? Sasuke-kun?'

She glances up and you notice that her attention is barely on you and you resist the temptation to sigh.

'We have a mission.'

You expect her to close her book and follow you diligently as she always does, because she is Sakura and Sakura is always hardworking and sedulous and that's why you can always count on her. But instead, she looks up at you and pouts- you think- _cutely_. The one she does to Kakashi and Naruto and Yamato and - god forbid - even Sai, when she wants something. And suddenly you understand what Naruto means when he says that she's scary when she wants something.

'What?'

'Can't I finish this first?'

She says, jabbing the page she's on lightly. As if she's all innocent and not trying to get you both in trouble for not being punctual.

'Read it when you get back.'

You roll your eyes at her childishness and reach to snatch the rusty of pieces of paper away from her, before both her hands stretch to grab them out of your reach.

'But Sasuke-kun!'

'_What?_'

She looks at you with what you suppose Naruto calls _puppy eyes_, hoping that it'll work. Instead of pouting, she's biting her lip now and- and-

_andit'snotworking_

Closing your eyes, you took a deep breathe.

'Why do you even want to read it?'

'It's… very informative!'

You sigh and snatch the book away from her, settling your thumb between the papers as you do it so that you don't lose her page.

'Hey!'

'If it's useful, I might as well look at it with my sharingan and tell you about it.'

_How does she even read the tiny writing?_

And as you try to find the part her finger pointed at from before on the huge encyclopedia like book, the tiny girl you were talking to takes her book back.

'It- it won't be the same! I don't want to hear it out of your stupid, blank, monotonous voice!'

She almost shouts and you almost forgot that you were both in the library.

You raise an eyebrow at her. Sure, she's called you a few things before after you're return, but most of them regarded your actions towards her. So, she's called you a prude before when you asked her to change into a longer dress (because that _shirt_ was not a dress), and she's called you an idiot when you threatened to chidori the chinese takeaway guy that puts his number in Sakura's fortune cookie, but none of the things that she said to you before were about your voice or your character.

She looks embarrassed at her outburst and hugs the book tightly against herself, a finger inserted to keep her page just as you did earlier.

'This is _romantic_- Sasuke-kun. More romantic than you could be (_to me_ -you could almost hear-) and I want it to stay that way in my head.'

And when she sees your raised eyebrow disappear up your hairline this time, she giggles and continues.

'See, Sasuke-kun, Emperor Shah Jahan of Mughal- this guy-'

She points to the picture of a dark skinned man wearing an elaborate costume and crown for you to see, but you barely see anything, as the only thing you notice is that she has pressed herself against you, her back fitting perfectly in front of your torso, where you can rest your head on hers.

'-built her- Mumtaz Mahal-'

And she points to another photograph, this time of a woman.

'this garden and castle.'

Flips through a few pages. Pointing to the last photograph- a luxurious and exotic looking palace. And when she drops the book on the desk and places her hands together in a praying position in front of her chest, you wonder if that's what _she_ wants-

'Isn't is romantic? The Garden of Shalimar and Taj Mahal- all for the woman he loved. I want that much love too.'

-because you'll give her_ everything._

'Tch-'

You glance back at Sakura who has that big daydream-y smile on her face before you turn to get to the mission.

'You can have the whole Uchiha compound if you want.'


	2. l'ombre dan l'eau

**chapter 2: **l'ombre dans l'eau

**title:** l'ombre dans l'eau

**word count: **968

**disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**note: **To fully understand you'll need knowledge of the language of flowers and the myth of myrrh (a bit of Greek mythology). L'Ombre dans L'Eau is from Diptyque, it translates back to 'the shadow in the water'.

When you hear that Naruto has brought back _Sasuke-kun_, you are ecstatic.

_Sasuke-kun is back. Our team is whole. We are whole. He's back. _

**he's back he's back he's back**

But then, you realize. They've left you behind again. Naruto went to play hero himself- abandoning you- _again_. And Sasuke- with his new team. Juugo and Suigetsu and Karin. Karin, the one who has taken your place and every time you look at her you are reminded of the girl that you were.

But team 7 is back together and you are content. You are all family. This is the life you are supposed to lead.

And you tell yourself that this is enough, you don't need anymore since you've already received more than you ever did before.

You tell yourself that you're sick of chasing fairytales.

That even though you won't ever stop loving him; your heart has already learnt how to live without any of the emotions he ever displayed for you.

Naruto and Kakashi are out on a mission tonight even though it is your normal team dinner night and you are surprised to find that Sasuke is at your place. Alone. By himself. Sitting on your couch, waiting for you.

'They have a mission tonight, you can stay for dinner if you want.'

'Ah.'

A 'yes' by his monosyllabic standards. These days, these responses are usually reserved for you, because when the others are around he will at least try to feign interest. You wonder if it's because he still remembers how you tried to kill him with a kunai or how he tried to kill you by asphyxiation and you drop the plates you were holding-

_I'll follow you Sasuke-kun_

-and the shards are sharp

_Your hand takes hold of a kunai, but it doesn't even touch him_

-and blood is spilling out of your wound

_I love you I love you I love you I'm so sorry_

-and you are staring at the hand, wide eyed and stiff and suddenly you feel so frightened.

'Sakura!'

And he calls, just as you remember from when you were younger and you were in danger and he would always be the knight in shining armor.

_But Sasuke-kun… I gave up being the damsel so long ago._

And he reaches for your hand with his own, but you shrink back because

it hurts to look at his hand and not think of where it tightened around you neck.

'I- I'm okay.'

Your voice is shaking slightly and you know you pathetic and you know he is thinking the same. But you put on your plasters and your brave face as you usher him back to the couch as you prepare dinner.

You both sit and eat and drink in silence. Usually it is Naruto who does the talking and you who will reply back with small chat along with Kakashi with Sasuke offering a few short replies or 'hn's or 'tch's or 'ah's or grunts throughout. And you wonder is things would ever go back to how it could have been for you two.

And you muster up your courage to try to talk to him about something mundane-

_How was your day Sasuke-kun? Isn't the weather nice today? I heard you last mission went well? Is the soup fitting to your tastes?_

and just as you are about to open your mouth, he-

'Sakura- I'm sorry.'

and you don't even know why you're crying.

But you are. And the tears are drip dropping one by one silently down onto your lap as you look like a koi fish out of water with your mouth slightly agape and one hand held up to support your chopsticks.

'Huh?'

And you want to scream and punch or kick at him because **why was he apologizing**?

But you know why-

for trying to kill you?

for breaking you heart?

He leans forwards and place a hand on your cheeks and you can't help but flinch but you stay there and let him try to wipe the tears away with his thumb and you almost think that he feels guilty and that it is regret and shame you see in his expression but you know it isn't because he's _Sasuke_.

So you smile and do that thing which the Naruto has told you to stop doing because it _creeps him out_. And you start giggling and try laughing so that you can stop crying since the body can't respond to both.

Because it is hurting as you cry and each tear that falls feels like it carries the shadows of your lost chances to be together in them.

'Why are you apologizing to me Sasuke-kun? I should be the one doing that- I was the one who tried to kill y-'

'Because you love me. I know that I've done things that are- wrong, that made you... angry. But-'

And you freeze because it is-

**love.**

_love love love_

_lovelovelovelovelovelovelove_

When you were so sure that it should have been

_loved_.

'I- no! No! I don't- I-'

And he looks at you like you're crazy and you know you must be crazy because you feel as if you are. And he stares through you and repeats it.

'It's because you love me.'

'I- I don't. And there is nothing to forgive- I'm not angry at you. Why would I be angry? I don't have any reason to be angry with you. I don't even have the right to be angry at you.'

And you see him reach for your hand, but you pull away again.

'What am I?'

You look up, and try your best to look at his eyes.

'I'm nothing.'

'No- you're everything.'


	3. apres l'ondee

**chapter 3:** après l'ondee

**title: **après l'ondee

**word count: **1441

**disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**note:** Après L'Ondee was created by the amazing house of Guerlain, the eau de toilette version is the one I was inspired by. Après l'ondee is French for 'after the rain shower'.

White.

Her dress was white. White and long and flowing and laced - and white – and she _glowed_.

Illuminated by the sunshiny brightness of the mosaic windows of the church. The day was beautiful and all the essence of spring became captured on this day for her. Clouds too white, sky unreasonably blue, flowers unconsciously matching and the wind excessively tranquil.

And her-

she was-

Sakura. And she looked unworldly.

Sakura with her hands holding on to something metallic, something that he doesn't want to know about. Sakura with her hair tied in an updo, wispy bits framing her face. Sakura with her clear green eyes, which looked and saw right through him like he wasn't the devil- wasn't a failure- wasn't an avenger- and Sakura- who would see him and smile. And the smile would always be soft and warm and innocent and gentle and everything he's not.

And he thinks.

He knows.

He isn't worth it.

He's known for years. And he's tried telling her.

And the day she finally accepts it- he's not quite sure he's prepared to let go.

_2 months. 6 days. 14 hours. 8 minutes. 32 seconds. ago_

_Clothes lay cluttered on the floor from their night before. Both weren't under the influence of alcohol. Both weren't burdened by the sorrows of a mission. Not overcome by sudden lust. She was only over to heal a wound after he requested medical support._

_The large panel windows of the Uchiha compound houses were all tear stained with rain._

'_Sasuke-kun?'_

_As she sat up, shifting the bed- he could see her slim figure being reflected in the misted window._

_She looked at him expectedly._

_He didn't look at her. He knows he shouldn't have touched her. Shouldn't have lost control. Because things would never go back to what they wanted._

'_What are we?'_

_Turning- he raised an eyebrow._

'_What?'_

'_What are we? We aren't lovers. You don't love me.' _

_She laughed, cold and so, so not like her. He frowns._

'_Sakura-'_

'_We aren't teammates anymore- heck, I don't even think you treat me as a friend. What are we? Because I'm tired- I'm tired of waiting. I want to be loved. Not the daily proclamations of love and flowers like Lee, not even a gesture to take care of me when I'm hurt. I don't need that. But I want to be loved. _

_So. What are we?'_

_She stares into the dark eyes and he can feel her searching them. For any answer. _

'_I knew it.'_

**My heart.** _That's what he wanted to say. But couldn't. Only watches her dress and pick up her things and walk out of the room after the silence._

He watches her as she walks through the crowd of congratulating people, walking up to her- to their- former mentor and talk about how grateful she is that he'll walk her down the aisle in place of her deceased father.

And he see's her with Ino- the one who decorated the hall with flowers, adorned the girl, made her bouquet.

The girl who is glaring at him, and her eyes asking him.

Why are _you_ here?

_1 month. 28 days. 1 hour. 3 minutes. 28 seconds. ago_

_Sakura had collapsed in the middle of a mission for no reason. The first thing he did was send Naruto to complete it and bring her back to Konoha._

_And when he heard that she was awake- he went to find her._

'_What should I do? I- he doesn't want me Ino. He never did! How can I just suddenly go up to him and tell him I'm pregnant?'_

_Tears stream down her face, but she is crying from the happiness of knowing she is going to be a mother soon. Like a harlequin, her face is an almost maniacal mixture of both._

_And he knows it's _his._ Because he was her first. Because she's too faithful to be with anyone else. Because there's nobody that wouldn't want her. Because he's the only one she loves too much. And he knows. And he doesn't do anything._

_Because he's a_ coward.

_Because he can't accept_ that much love_._

_Because he knows that he is clinging onto her and suffocating her and keeping her to himself- where while he is happy- _she is dying_._

'_Shhh- it's okay,' He saw the blonde stroke her hair and she hugged the crying rosette on the hospital bed. A single violet bouquet upon her bedside._

'_It's okay. It'll be okay. Let me take care of it- it'll be okay.'_

A hand pats him on the shoulder and he scowls and he turns to see Naruto-

'Thanks. Sasuke. For coming.'

- Naruto, sincerity in his voice, and clad in a matching white suit to the bride. With his happy face even happier than normal.

_**The perfect pair.**_That's what people called them.

Both happy. Both bright. Both warm and smiling and loving. The Hokage's apprentice and the Hokage-to-be.

Spring and Summer- they said. Spring and Summer would do well for them all.

And when he sees Naruto disappear so that he can walk around the back to step onto the altar just as Sakura did earlier on. His chest aches and he knows this is the feeling of lost.

_0 months. 12 days. 13 hours. 49 minutes. 34 seconds. ago_

_It would been a relaxing day out with the team. All of them were sitting on their normal seats at the ramen stand. Uzumaki Naruto. Haruno Sakura. Uchiha Sasuke. _

'_Ino told me Sakura-chan.'_

'_Naruto?' Sakura drops her chopsticks and doesn't even think of retrieving them, instead turning to face the Uchiha._

'_Sakura-chan. Marry me.'_

_When she looked at him like he was out of his mind- he shook his head and held out a ring, a bond of three separate rings- silver, rose gold and gold._

How ironic._ He thought when he saw the band of three._

'_I don't care- I'll make you happy and I'll make _our_ child happy- and I'll take care of both of you.' The blonde wraps his arms around her back tightly even as she has turned back to face the dark haired one and he repeats-_

'_**- marry me**__.'_

_He sees her eyes widen in disbelief and thinks that _it's impossible_, she'll never do it. And she looks back at him, seeking any type of response from him to help her decide._

_She knows that he won't even try to stop her._

_She knows that they will never be the _perfect_ that she wants. That they would need to survive together._

_Because they lost their chance years back._

_Maybe they never even had one._

'Sasuke-kun_,' She smiles. _

_And his heart breaks. Because he knows she deserves so much more. So much more than him than a person who lost the ability to love her rightfully. She deserves_ this_. _

_And his hand is suddenly heavy even though he wants to bring it up to her face and tell her to say no- and tell her to marry him. Let him take care of her instead. Tell her she is the only thing he ever wanted. Ever needed- the only thing that he needs. And that-_

_ . . ._

_But it doesn't move. And for the only time in his life, Sakura is faster than him to respond to something._

_Though-_

_How ironic._

_How fucking ironic._

_For her last words to him as _Sasuke-kun_ to be _those_._

'**Thankyou**._'_

_thankyou thankyou thankyou_

_Thankyou for everything you've ever done for me._

_Thankyou for all those memories, those little actions that you shared._

_Thankyou for all that you gave to me._

_Thankyou for not trying to stop me._

_Thankyou for giving me a clean goodbye instead of leading me on when you can't love me._

_Thankyou for finally letting me go._

_thankyou thankyou thankyou_

_**thankyou for giving me the chance to love you. **_

_**thankyou for loving me.**_

Sakura sees him and she smiles at him and it is everything he remembers it to be. The smile that would always be soft and warm and innocent and gentle and everything he's not.

Except- now- there's also gratitude and regret and shame.

She turned back around.

He let his hand linger on the blessed rosewood of the church a moment before he stepped away from his seat in the wedding hall.

The last seat of the entire hall.

Where no one could see him.

Where he could stop himself from standing up.

Where the path was long enough for others to try and stop him if he tried to reach the altar.

There he could strain his ears to block out the cursed words.

'_**I do.'**_


	4. lipstick rose

**chapter 4: **lipstick rose

**title: **lipstick rose

**word count: **1050

**disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**note: **Because Sakura doesn't strike me as the type of girl that would put makeup on and because Sasuke is a jealous person by nature. Lipstick Rose is from Frederic Malle Editions de Parfums.

Sitting in the ground floor of an okiya with the rest of the team while waiting for Sakura to get ready. It was at moments like this where Uchiha Sasuke felt like the jobs of _shinobi_ were truly painstaking when their missions called for _kunoichi_.

While they were sure it wasn't necessarily Sakura who was the one taking ages and may actually be the woman of the house who wanted her to be _irresistible_ when they were finished with her (as they had scoffed when Sasuke said that it _wouldn't make a difference_ to how she looked).

Kakashi carefully sipped the cup of hot tea he was served, eyeing the boy in front of him thoughtfully.

'Sasuke, go tell Sakura to speed it up a little- whe'll have to get to the client soon.'

Scowling, the boy stood to get to the door, but not before throwing Kakashi a glare.

Sakura sighed as she tried tying up her hair as the rest of the women did around her. Dressed in their kimonos befitting of a princess, she thought she looked amazing.

_But Sasuke-kun said it doesn't matter what I looked like and that nothing would change. What? Do I not look good in anything?_

Failing to pin her hair down at the back, she opened her mouth to seek help, luckily someone came up to her, taking her pink hair in her hands before she had to ask.

'Sakura- dear- don't take what that _boy_ said to heart. He just doesn't want someone else to look at you. He seems like the jealous type.'

Her hands went slack from all her past attempts at fixing her appearance. She discovered she had no talent in the business of applying cosmetics today. Even the simplest step of powdering her face resulted in her sneezing up a storm, moreover- painting three strokes of white on the back of her neck with out them being out of place without help? Impossible.

Hearing the unsheathing of the rice paper doors to the room, she was prepared to face whomever from her team was sent up to hurry up the process.

'Sakura.'

Refusing to turn to face him, she instead chose to peek at his reflection through the mirror placed in front of her and try putting on her lipstick, failing to keep it in the right heart shape it was supposed to be in instead of following her natural lip line.

'Look, what I said before. I didn't mean anything… degrading.'

Sasuke didn't think that implying that he was wrong to Sakura would ever be hard, but in a room filled with women who all looked at him disdainfully (for the first time in his life), he felt even more cornered than the time Kakashi and Naruto dragged him to the public bathhouse and they 'accidentally' stumbled across Sakura.

He cleared his throat before starting again when she didn't turn around.

'This stuff. The makeup and the clothes and the accessories. It's all just to fulfill a vision of glamorized femininity. You don't need them.'

And Sasuke feels like maybe he's out of his mind because it doesn't feel like him talking.

_It must be the estrogen in the air._

Wiping away her unsuccessful attempt at applying her lipstick, Sakura turned to Sasuke skeptically.

'Do you really think so?'

The Uchiha looks at the girl sitting in front of him in the stool. Okay- so maybe the makeup and the clothes and the accessories make her look even more delectable than she normally looks. And he wants to steal her, lock her away and keep him to himself.

But he is an Uchiha and therefore is emotionally stunted. His quota of showing emotion is already way pass it's limit for the week.

'Is that a rhetorical question?'

And he is surprised that he still manages to control his voice and what would have normally came out as a snarling remark sounds teasing and smug.

_It definitely is the estrogen in the air._

And he is glad that Sakura knows him well enough to not feel offended when he heard her sigh.

'Thanks Sasuke-kun. I'll try to finish up quickly. Just give me a minute, 'kay? I can't apply my lipstick right.'

Sakura murmured in defeat. Picking up the pot of rouge with the small brush in it to show her teammate, hoping that by showing him one of the feminine 'stuffs' he mentioned, he will usher himself out and give her sometime to calm down.

Instead, she finds that he has already taken hold of the small bowl of red powdery liquid that smells of roses and powders.

When he tilts her head up from her sitting position to look towards him, she feels grateful for the layers of white on her skin because she knows that her face must be redder than her hair.

'Sa-Sasuke-kun?'

'Close your mouth.'

And she shuts her mouth gently back together. Because he is staring at her lips so intently and she feels like-

_this must be what the moments before getting kissed feels like._

Feeling the slight pressure from the brush touch her lips, she averts her eyes to look up at his eyes instead because she knows he can't see anything but her lips and it's making her nervous and skittish and excited and jittery.

And when he's done tracing out the perfect shape of what the other geisha's lips look like on Sakura, Sasuke feels proud of himself for resisting the urge to move closer and touch their lips and when he's done he looks up again and he doesn't expect to find Sakura gazing at him and he nearly jump backs.

'I'm going back.'

Her head is dropped as quickly as it was lifted, gently, but still- quickly.

'Poor girl, she's stuck with him for the rest of her life isn't she?'

Sakura turned her head over to look at the beautiful women behind her who had said that, she was facing another mirror and twisting her hair into a perfect updo.

'H-huh?'

They all looked at the still dazed girl sympathetically.

'Sweety. Any male specimen applying lipstick on you is doing a gesture more possessive than kissing you, the only thing more territorial would be doing that in public.'


	5. teint de neige

**chapter 5: **teint de neige

**title: **teint de neige

**word count: **290

**disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**note: **Supposed to be a prequel of sorts to chapter 3 (après l'ondee) with a bit of one-sided NaruSaku. Teint de neige can be translated as both 'color of snow' and 'snow white complexion', it is from the niche house that is Lorenzo Villoresi.

'Can I say it? The reason I'm crying?'

It came out barely a whisper. Soft and fragile.

Like the hushed sound of kicked puppies and broken music boxes and dragonflies with torn wings and petal laced breezes in spring.

_No._

'I know you know it already. I think you should know why I'm crying.'

_nononononononono_

_**Stop saying that! **_

'Don't say it!'

He shouted and his voice was so loud, so hoarse, so empty in the night.

She looked up.

And her face is so pale and so ghostly under the moonlight, so white like the geisha who powder their faces in rice and talc powder that he feels his throat tighten just by looking at her.

_Don't break my heart anymore._

He looked down at her again,

'You're crying for him. Aren't you?'

Her eyes crinkled to blink out the tears in surprise.

_Why do you look so surprised? You told me yourself you knew that I understood._

'I knew it.'

_You won't ever cry for him again. _

_I won't let you_

'You're jealous because he could pass the trails so easily while you're on probation even though the only thing you attempted was to let him get what he deserved.'

Her expression was so confused, so lost. You wrap your arms around her, letting her rest her head in the crook between your neck.

'Am I wrong?'

He laughed chokingly.

'I know you better than anyone else. More than yourself.'

_There is no other reason, right?_

He looked up at the window, into the snowing night to stop his tears from forming.

Sakura smiled.

'Yeah- that's all.'

But her smile was mocking his sanity.

_You did it again Sakura-chan. _

You broke my heart with your love for that bastard.


	6. a la nuit

**chapter 6: **á la nuit

**title: **á la nuit

**word count:** 1799

**disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**note: **Serge Luten's Á La Nuit is a full blown aphrodisiac of jasmines. It even translates well- 'in the night' in English. And it's amazingly sexual stuff. Really. All things aside- most of this chapter is basically shameless smut (which I _adore_ writing), nothing completly explicit though.

**! warning !  
**This chapter is **M-rated** and may contain **sexual material** that may offend particular individuals. Underage audience are also advised to 'look away'.

_How did I get here?_

That was what they both thought as they paid for the night at the first (_lovelovelove)_ hotel they found after they had split from the others during an ambush from a group of rouges when they were all depleted of chakra after returning from a mission.

They had agreed that one room was all they could afford as both of them left their valuables in the backpack Kakashi carried. They usually split their items between two backpacks that would be swapped around the group during missions and the one that they did have had very little- some clothes and some food.

Sakura gasped as she opened the room, purple curtains draped down the double glazed windows and the carpeted floors were so soft she felt herself sink into them. There were even the little chocolates that she loved laid on the double bed with layers and layers of bedding. Even the bathroom was a traditional bathhouse type with a small area to draw the bath and a shower in front of it, with a sheet of glass seperating it to the toilet. They didn't pay nearly enough for this type of accommodation!

'Do you mind if I take the bath first? I may take a little longer.'

Sasuke settled himself down on the bed, running his fingers along the furred top, clearing still wondering how the inn managed to afford such luxuries.

'Take your time.'

As he heard the shower turn on and Sakura sigh in pleasure as the hot water ran onto her skin, he knew she was probably quite grateful for it since they had cold showers for the past week.

He was about to ask Sakura whether she was done yet when he heard her give a sharp scream, strangled and worried.

'Sakura?'

'I'm sorry Sasuke-kun, could I borrow a shirt?'

And he realizes that he was worried for nothing when he finds her unmarred, standing amidst the jasmine scented steam of the open bathroom wrapped tightly in a thick towel, her hair piled on top of her head with a few strands framing her face naturally because of their length in the opening of the frosted door.

She looked a bit fazed and red in the face (probably from the heat of the bath, he thinks), but unharmed and unscathed and soft and-

'Sasuke-kun?'

He pressed his eyes shut and rubbed his temples, what was wrong with him? He didn't usually look at her that way.

'Here.'

Throwing one of his clean shirts at her he wondered if it would even fit her.

She was awkwardly slipping into his shirt through her heavy white towel, trying to hold the damn thing up with one hand while trying to slip through the large shirt. Inching towards the bed to get a bit of support she tripped on the carpet as her view was blocked by the shirt.

Being the one with fast reflexes, he caught her, but not before she had finished donning his shirt.

Sasuke frowned, while Sakura was clumsy by nature when she wasn't on a job it wasn't like her to let her guard down around a man like she was acting at the moment (even if the 'man' was _him_).

'Sakura? Are you okay?'

'-suke-kun'?'

Sakura felt like her body was on fire- it was so hot- he was so warm- and his oversized shirt suddenly felt so constricting even though it was only half on and she was dizzy and burning and everything seemed to be spinning.

'I'm putting you on the bed, don't move.'

'Mm'kay.'

And she's panting and taking deep breathes, looking like she has trouble breathing and Sasuke is actually worried, because they've never ever had to visit Sakura in the hospital and Sakura is never the one who requires medical attention and Sakura is always the one who takes care of the team, but now she looks like she's in pain in front of him when he can't do anything for her.

'It's hot- Sasuke-kun... Turn on the air conditioner... Please?'

And he almost want to laugh, because even when she can't talk properly she is polite and because it's already on 16 degrees and it won't go lower and normally Sakura would be complaining because he knows she hates anything under 19. So he rushes back to her, but when he finds her trying to strip, he is reminded by the bare thigh in front of him that- apart from his shirt, she isn't wearing anything.

'Sakura, you can't take it off-'

But Uchiha Sasuke is cut off, and for the first time in his life he is unsure of how to respond because the girl that had previously lain in front of him is now straddling his hips because she flipped him around by his shoulders (damn her and her superhuman strength) and is-

_licking _his neck.

And god.

He doesn't know why it feels good or why he isn't stopping her and why she is no longer almost knocked out in front of him because her hands are roaming across his chest, down his back- leaving thin nail marks to accompany his scars as her mouth attacks his nape.

The hot, wet appendage is dragging up from his collarbone to his ear and when she nips him there, Sasuke almost jerks at the slight pain. Her nails are still digging into his arms, into his back, over his neck and arms are flying everywhere. Legs a big tangled mess as Sasuke tries to flip them back around and Sakura struggles to pin him down.

'Sakura- stop-'

Sasuke says, giving a hard push onto whatever he is able to get hold of on her.

'Sasuke-kun!'

The girl abruptly gasps and sits up and he is surprised it worked so well as he run his hand through his hair and tries to fix himself up, looking away from her.

And then he realizes that it wasn't that Sakura was abnormally softer than she normally was, but that he had touched somewhere abnormally softer on her than he normally would when he sees her biting her bottom lip, one of her sharp canine teeth sucking on it and her arms circling around her under her chest as if punched in the gut.

And he winces inwardly because he _really_ didn't mean for that to happen.

When Sakura finally realizes that Sasuke is speechless and staring at her blatantly, it doesn't take her less than a second to start crawling back towards his sitting body on her knees. Circling her hands around his neck as she reaches.

Her lips rested gently on Sasuke's. It would have perfectly innocent if they weren't in their attires. Just lips on lips. They stayed like that for a what felt like forever to Sasuke until her realized that he was starting to feel warm _there_ as Sakura pushed herself flush against him and that Sakura was waiting for him to make a move. Either continue or push her away, while he felt that he _didn't_ want to- his body was beginning to betray him as he heard Sakura moan against his own still closed lips when she felt something underneath her.

Taking the chance as she opened her mouth, her inserted his tongue in her mouth and by the way her eyes widened as her grip tightened against him she wasn't expecting it. Sasuke felt her own tongue experimentally try touching his own in her mouth and her knew that it was probably her first time kissing someone like this as she took baby steps trying to figure out the strange foreign feeling. And he let her experiment- waiting for her to make the moves first before responding back on his own.

When she broke away to breath, Sakura looked straight at the man in front of her. Through her half hooded lids from pleasure she could see that even under such circumstances he still managed to look aloof and indifferent, if his lips weren't slightly swollen (like her own, but she hazarded a guess that hers weren't only _slightly_ swollen) and she didn't feel how aroused he was under her she wouldn't even know that he was interested in her.

Undoing the last of the buttons of Sasuke's shirt, Sakura leans in again to kiss him as his shirt falls off her. He almost wishes that she wouldn't kiss him so quickly because he misses the way his shirt falls off her, but that is forgotten when he feels her tongue drawing circles around his own, and he smirks into the kiss when he hears her squeek as he sucks her tongue into his mouth. Scraping it lightly against his teeth and sucking on it again.

His breath got caught in his throat when they finally break away from another kiss. Panting and hot. Sakura placed his hand on her bare breast and he looked at her.

There's a thin layer of moisture on her, probably from the bath and him. She has scars over her body, milky white and smooth, there's a particularly large one across her abdomen and he traces her lightly with his fingertips. Her waist is tiny in comparison to the arm he has around her and her breasts are not big, but still soft, still there and still full and-

_ she's beautiful_.

And he can hear the sound of her hitching breathes when her erect nipple brushes against his own and he has to clench his eyes tightly to keep himself from pushing her down just so he can take her already when she whimpers against him as he squeezes down.

He grits his teeth to keep himself from groaning in pleasure as her hand caresses him through his pants.

'I love you.'

She gives him another chaste kiss before she starts reaching down to undo his pants.

Sasuke came to his senses.

This wasn't Sakura in her right mind. She was out of it and he was taking advantage.

Taking advantage of _Sakura._

He was taking advantage of the person who had confessed her love to him when he was thirteen, to the person he rejected at the same time, the girl who would have killed him because she loved him so much even when he threatened everything dear to her- the same person who openly welcomed him back without any promises those years back.

And here he was again. Betraying all her love and trust only because he was turned on while she was intoxicated by something.

Pushing her away from her, Sasuke stands up.

'Sakura, stop. I'm not doing this.'

_- not to you._

Her green eyes widen into the state he remembers smears his heart.

'You don't want me?'


	7. arsene lupin dandy

**chapter 7: **arsene lupin dandy

**title: **arsene lupin dandy

**word count: **869

**disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**note: **All the medical jargon Sakura spouts- I have no idea what it would actually mean… I just came up with whatever I felt was totally unbelievable and strange XP A sakishima habu is a type of Japanese pit viper. Arsene Lupin Dandy is by (once again, the _amazing_) house of Guerlain. I'll be trying to update a few chapters every month (no promises!).

Itachi woke in the night to the sound of wood creaking outside the corridor.

His family was always filled with light sleepers, but he in particular was as sensitive to sound as a raven to light. His father had always said it was a good thing, but his mother would always pat his head sympathetically and try to coax him into taking one of her -absolutely disgusting viscose mixtures of multicolored god-knows-what in a bottle- experiments that were supposed to help him sleep better. He was lucky his father was as trusting of them as he was. He loved his mother, but sometimes, just sometimes, she was the biggest 'medical geek' (quoting from Uchiha Sasuke) he had ever met (not that Itachi had met a lot at 7 years old).

He tiptoed to Mikoto's crib across the room, making sure the small girl wasn't woken by the sound. Leaning over the sandalwood crib, he saw that the baby girl was still clutching tightly onto her oversized weasel plushie she received her last birthday from the family (he rather liked it- but that's a story for another time) and was still snoring softly.

Padding gently out of their room towards the library (where he saw a faint glowing light), hands glowing a light blue light in his own modified chakra scalpels, he prepared for whoever was in his home at this hour.

He so did _not_ think he would get tackled over.

'Chii-kun!'

He frowned at his mother's pet name for him, it made him sound like a girl!

'Okaa-san,'

He lowered his hand.

'What are you doing?'

He asked, covering his mouth as he tried to muffle a yawn now that his alertness was gone.

'Can you get your tou-san for me, Chii-kun?'

The boy had already turned his back against her, his hand in his untamed raven hair, ruffling it as he stretched towards his parent's room.

'Hai, hai.'

It amazed him that his mother had managed to sneak away from his father while they slept on the same bed, not that Uchiha Sakura was not a good kunoichi, it was just that, mind you, his father was _the_ Uchiha Sasuke after all. He blinked aimlessly to himself as he accidently walked past his parent's room with it's open doors. He _really_ needed to go back to sleep.

'Tou-san…'

Itachi mumbled as sleep tried to get the best of him. Poking the side of his father lightly as the sleeping man beneath him stirred quickly. A single glowing red stares back at his slightly closed drowsy ones.

'Itachi?'

'Otou-san… Okaa-san needs you…'

Sasuke inwardly sighed, he didn't bother asking his son where she was. Judging by the sound- it was probably the study at the back of the library. Ushering Itachi back to his bed, he tread towards his wife.

It wouldn't be the first time Sakura called for him in the middle of the night during her pregnancies, though he certainly hope that it would be the last every time. Her heists of knowledge (as she liked to call it) got more ridiculous each time.

'Sasuke-kun?'

'You've been up again, haven't you?'

Sakura had made a mess of his scrolls at the back of his office- in the classified end of it. Unlike Itachi, who had been bleary eyed and sleep-mussed, she was flushed contently with excitement and grinning embarrassed and cheekily at him.

'I'm not sleepy,'

She shrugged. Sakura pointed at the collapsed pile of papers and tangled bunch of unsuccessful security traps-

'How can I fix this?'

With his sharingan flashing for a mere second, he studied the scene in front of him.

'You _stole_ the leather parchment on the effects of chakra cauterization in neurons for reptiles. Sakura- it's forbidden.'

'I was just borrowing it for a moment!'

'You broke through my flame wards_, _you killed my sakishima habu and woke our son up.'

'Sasuke-kun! Do you have any idea how amazing the results could be for the patients if we could just manage to make it work for mammals-'

The raven haired man knew _exactly_ where this was going.

'Go to sleep, Sakura.'

'But-'

'Don't whine.'

'Still-'

'It will still be there in the morning.'

'That was not what I meant-'

'I meant it when I said go back to bed. You're six months pregnant. Even though you're a medic nin, you're up at night, not getting enough sleep.'

Sakura flushed a shade similar to her hair as she pouted, crossed her arms under her chest and huffed to her left side.

Sasuke drag his hand across his face as he rubbed the outer corner of his right eye in annoyance.

'Honestly, most women crave strange foods. _You steal_ _classified jutsu study scrolls_.'


End file.
